Posts Tagged Procter & Gamble

NEW YORK CITY, NY (February 27, 2014) – Publicis Kaplan Thaler EVP, Brand Agency Leader, Marjorie Porter, was honored by the Advertising Women of New York and Working Mother Magazine as one of this year’s Trailblazer Moms at their 10th Annual Advertising Working Mothers of the Year Luncheon. The event highlighted advertising’s best and brightest, as well their secrets to making it work.

The awards honor mothers in advertising, media and communications who succeed in balancing work and family, serve as positive role models and mentors, and distinguish themselves in their communities.

Marjorie Porter is EVP, Brand Agency Leader of P&G’s Home Care division at Publicis Kaplan Thaler, and oversees all agency work for global brands Cascade, Dawn, and Swiffer, and has helped grow these brands significantly.

A list of all Advertising Working Mothers of the Year Award winners can be found here.

About Publicis Kaplan ThalerPublicis Kaplan Thaler is a fully integrated advertising agency with digital, social and technology at its core. With over 650 employees, it is the flagship of Publicis Worldwide in the USA, the North American operating unit of Publicis Worldwide, the largest global agency network within Publicis Groupe. The Agency’s blue-chip client roster includes: Procter & Gamble, CITI, Nestlé, Merck, Pfizer, TriHonda, Wendy’s, L’Oréal, AFLAC, and NAPA Auto Parts, among others. To learn more about Publicis Kaplan Thaler, follow @PKTtweets, like on Facebook or visit pkt.com.

About AWNYFounded in 1912, Advertising Women of New York’s (AWNY) mission is to empower women in our industry to achieve personal and professional fulfillment at each stage of their careers. Membership now stands at nearly 1,700 and ranges from senior level executives to those just beginning their career.

NEW YORK CITY, NY (January 16, 2014) – Andrew Bruce, CEO for Publicis North America, today announced the appointment of Carla Serrano as Chief Strategy Officer for Publicis Kaplan Thaler, effective February 10, 2014. Serrano, a leading planning expert, brings over 20 years of experience in brand strategy and integrated communications through her work on many of the world’s most successful global brands.

Serrano joins Publicis Kaplan Thaler from Naked Communications, where she was CEO. In her new post as Chief Strategy Officer, Serrano will lead strategy development across digital, brand planning, analytics and social channels, working closely with Publicis Kaplan Thaler’s Chairman, Linda Kaplan Thaler, and President/Chief Creative Officer, Rob Feakins.

In making the announcement, Bruce said, “Carla is an amazingly talented and innovative strategic leader who is at the forefront of modern brand building. She understands and fully embraces the transformation that has taken place in our industry with digital, social and consumer empowerment at the core. I had the pleasure of working with Carla at the start of our careers, and have watched her achieve great success for her clients and agencies ever since. I am so thrilled to be on the same team again.”In making the move, Serrano said, “Andrew, Linda and Rob’s vision deeply aligns with my belief about strategy today, where theory and practice, strategy and creative, content and channel merge seamlessly in expression. The Publicis network’s commitment to strategically fueled creativity and dynamic integration is refreshing, critical, and exciting.”

Serrano started her advertising career at Chiat/Day Toronto at a time when account planning was an emerging discipline in North America. From the start, she worked on iconic brands including Apple and Nissan, then Pepsi and Frito-Lay while at BBDO. Serrano moved to New York to rejoin TBWA Chiat/Day where she helped embed and cultivate the agency’s proprietary creative strategy process. She went on to become TBWA’s Chief Strategy Officer. Prior to her most recent post at Naked, Serrano was with Berlin Cameron United as Planning Director and was promoted to President in 2009 having helped win and lead global brands such as Samsung, Coca-Cola and Hennessy.

About Publicis Kaplan ThalerPublicis Kaplan Thaler is the New York flagship office of Publicis North America, the regional operating unit of Paris-based Publicis Worldwide, the largest global network within holding company Publicis Groupe S.A.

With over 650 employees, Publicis Kaplan Thaler is a fully integrated advertising agency with digital, social and technology at its core. The Agency’s blue chip client roster includes: Procter & Gamble, CITI, Nestle, Merck, Pfizer, TriHonda, Wendy’s, L’Oreal, and Aflac, among others. Its mission is ‘To Lead the Change’ to help clients leap ahead. To learn more about Publicis Kaplan Thaler, follow @PKTtweets, like on Facebook or visit pkt.com.

NEW YORK CITY, NY (December 18, 2013) – Publicis Kaplan Thaler and their client, Citi received four silver Midas Awards at this year’s only international competition to recognize excellence in financial marketing and advertising on a global scale.

Midas Awards honors the World’s Best Financial Marketing & Advertising™. The competition extends over regional, national and continental boundaries to provide a true worldview of advertising and corporate communications in the international financial community. Honoring advertising in banking, brokerage, insurance, mutual fund, credit card, real estate, accounting and consulting, Midas Awards® focuses on four distinct areas: Products & Services, Craft, Use of Medium and Use of Discipline. Founded in 2001, the Midas Awards panel of judges includes client and agency leaders from the creative and marketing disciplines, as well as internationally recognized experts in financial policy and communications. These judges offer their perspectives not only on how well a message is delivered, but how it is received.

About Publicis Kaplan ThalerPublicis Kaplan Thaler is a fully integrated advertising agency with digital, social and technology at its core. With over 650 employees, it is the flagship of Publicis Worldwide in the USA, the North American operating unit of Publicis Worldwide, the largest global agency network within Publicis Groupe. The Agency’s blue-chip client roster includes: Procter & Gamble, CITI, Nestlé, Merck, Pfizer, TriHonda, Wendy’s, L’Oréal, AFLAC, and NAPA Auto Parts, among others. To learn more about Publicis Kaplan Thaler, follow @PKTtweets, like on Facebook or visit pkt.com.

About New York FestivalsNew York Festivals organizes advertising and programming competitions for the following brands:
AME Awards World’s Most Effective Advertising™
Midas Awards World’s Best Work in Financial Marketing & Advertising™
The Global Awards World’s Best Healthcare Advertising™
New York Festivals World’s Best Advertising™
New York Festivals World’s Best Radio Programs™
New York Festivals World’s Best Television & Films™
Entries to each of the competitions are judged around the world by panels of peers in their respective industries. For more information, go to www.newyorkfestivals.com.

About CitiCiti, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.

Midas Awards is the only international competition to recognize excellence in financial marketing & advertising on a global scale. Midas Awards honors the World’s Best Financial Marketing & Advertising™. The competition extends over regional, national and continental boundaries to provide a true worldview of advertising and corporate communications in the international financial community. Honoring advertising in banking, brokerage, insurance, mutual fund, credit card, real estate, accounting and consulting, Midas Awards® focuses on four distinct areas: Products & Services, Craft, Use of Medium and Use of Discipline. Founded in 2001, the Midas Awards panel of judges includes client and agency leaders from the creative and marketing disciplines, as well as internationally recognized experts in financial policy and communications. These judges offer their perspectives not only on how well a message is delivered, but how it is received.

“While industry recognition is important in award shows, I always like to dominate our client’s industry shows,” added Rob Feakins, Publicis Kaplan Thaler Chief Creative Officer. “Doing the best work in our client’s category, is always our number one priority. The Midas Awards recognizes the best financial services work in the world. What I’m most proud of, is how many finalists Citi had in a tough, international show. In fact we had more finalists than Goodby, The Martin agency and RGA NY. Both Citi and the Publicis One Team should feel extremely proud.”

A list of all the Midas Award nominees can be found here. Final award winners will be announced on December 18, 2013.

About Publicis Kaplan ThalerPublicis Kaplan Thaler is a fully integrated advertising agency with digital, social and technology at its core. With over 650 employees, it is the flagship of Publicis Worldwide in the USA, the North American operating unit of Publicis Worldwide, the largest global agency network within Publicis Groupe. The Agency’s blue-chip client roster includes: Procter & Gamble, CITI, Nestlé, Merck, Pfizer, TriHonda, Wendy’s, L’Oréal, AFLAC, and NAPA Auto Parts, among others. To learn more about Publicis Kaplan Thaler, follow @PKTtweets, like on Facebook or visit pkt.com.

About New York FestivalsNew York Festivals organizes advertising and programming competitions for the following brands:
AME Awards World’s Most Effective Advertising™
Midas Awards World’s Best Work in Financial Marketing & Advertising™
The Global Awards World’s Best Healthcare Advertising™
New York Festivals World’s Best Advertising™
New York Festivals World’s Best Radio Programs™
New York Festivals World’s Best Television & Films™
Entries to each of the competitions are judged around the world by panels of peers in their respective industries. For more information, go to www.newyorkfestivals.com.

About CitiCiti, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.

The Epica awards were created in 1987. Having originally focused on the Europe, Middle East and Africa region exclusively, the awards became global in 2012. Epica’s aim is to reward outstanding creativity and help communication agencies, film production companies, media consultancies, photographers and design studios to develop their reputations beyond their national borders. The awards are judged by journalists representing the trade press; 41 specialist titles and websites from 34 countries will be represented on the jury this year. This unique jury guarantees objectivity and widespread coverage of the results. The best work is also published in the annual Epica Book.

Joe Johnson, Executive Creative Director on the campaign added, “Epica is one of those shows that we have always followed from afar and we couldn’t be happier to finally be a part of it. The whole team is incredibly honored by this award, and in our technology obsessed times, its oddly gratifying to win an award using a telephone.”

About Publicis Kaplan ThalerPublicis Kaplan Thaler is a fully integrated advertising agency with digital, social and technology at its core. With over 650 employees, it is the flagship of Publicis Worldwide in the USA, the North American operating unit of Publicis Worldwide, the largest global agency network within Publicis Groupe. The Agency’s blue-chip client roster includes: Procter & Gamble, CITI, Nestlé, Merck, Pfizer, TriHonda, Wendy’s, L’Oréal, AFLAC, and NAPA Auto Parts, among others. To learn more about Publicis Kaplan Thaler, follow @PKTtweets, like on Facebook or visit pkt.com.

About The Epica International Creative AwardsHaving Originally created in 1987 focusing on the Europe, Middle East and Africa region exclusively, The Epica awards became global in 2012. Epica’s aim is to reward outstanding creativity and help communication agencies, film production companies, media consultancies, photographers and design studios to develop their reputations beyond their national borders. The best work is also published in the annual Epica Book. The awards encompass all main communications disciplines: TV, Press, Outdoor, Radio, Direct, Media, Business-to-Business, Medical, Corporate Image, Mobile, Interactive, Public Relations, Film Craft, Print Craft, Branded Entertainment, Social Networks, Design, Packaging, Photography, Promotions and Integrated Campaigns.

Tells Top Strategic Business Partners that Focus is on Growth and Value Creation

CINCINNATI (October 28, 2013) -The Procter & Gamble Company has recognized its top performing external business partners at its annual External Business Partner Recognition Dinner. Nearly 80 top suppliers and agencies attended the annual event to recognize and celebrate key contributors who have demonstrated partner excellence.

Speaking at the event, A.G. Lafley, P&G’s Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “For P&G, the primary drivers of growth and value creation are innovation and productivity. P&G’s external business partners help us deliver both, creating value for consumers, customers and shareholders alike.”

Mr. Lafley added that the collective capabilities of the companies and individuals in P&G’s global partner network offered a powerful competitive advantage. During his presentation he highlighted the contributions from a number of external business partners helping P&G innovate across its global supply chain.

Global Product Supply Officer Yannis Skoufalos built upon that. “Product Supply works hand-in-hand with our supply chain partners, exploring every aspect to innovate, drive out costs, and serve our customers and consumers better,” he said. When we collaborate with our supply chain partners, we create consumer value and competitive advantage for P&G.”

Among P&G’s more than 82,000 suppliers and agencies, fifteen received the highest honor of being named “External Business Partner of the Year.”

“I congratulate all of our award winners, especially those who were recognized as ‘External Business Partner of the Year,’” said Rick Hughes, Chief Purchasing Officer. “Our external business partners are a critical part of the P&G team and a true competitive advantage.”

In addition to the select few “External Business Partner of the Year” awards, all companies performing consistently at high levels within P&G’s internal performance management system earned Excellence Awards. Publicis Worldwide in the USA was among the 77 external business partners receiving this distinction.

Thirty-six of this year’s Excellence Award winners were also winners in 2012, including Publicis Worldwide, winning for a fourth straight year in-a-row. P&G works with all business partners to reach excellence levels, and therefore there is no limit on the number of excellence awards that can be achieved.

Susan Gianinno, Chief Executive Officer of Publicis Worldwide in the USA added, “No other agency has won this award for four consecutive years. This is a monumental achievement and one which we never take for granted. The only way we keep winning is that our teams working on P&G never stop striving to be even better. This is a source of pride and of great accomplishment. Congratulations to all of our P&G teams (and all those who work to support these teams) for making us all look so good and feel so proud.”

About Procter & GambleP&G serves approximately 4.8 billion people around the world with its brands. The Company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Ace®, Always®, Ambi Pur®, Ariel®, Bounty®, Charmin®, Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®, Duracell®, Fairy®, Febreze®, Fusion®, Gain®, Gillette®, Head & Shoulders®, Iams®, Lenor®, Mach3®, Olay®, Oral-B®, Pampers®, Pantene®, Prestobarba®, SK-II®, Tide®, Vicks®, Wella® and Whisper®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.

About Publicis Worldwide in the USAPublicis Worldwide in the USA is the North American regional operating unit of Paris-based Publicis Worldwide, the largest global agency network within holding company, Publicis Groupe S.A. Publicis Worldwide in the USA offices include New York-based Publicis Kaplan Thaler, San Francisco-based Riney, Publicis Dallas and Publicis Seattle. The Publicis Worldwide mission is ‘To Lead The Change’ to help our clients leap ahead.

NEW YORK CITY, NY (October 11, 2013) – Advertising executives, brand marketers and press recently gathered at New York’s Altman building to celebrate the winners of Mashable’s inaugural Mashies awards, honoring the best and most creative work in digital marketing. Publicis Kaplan Thaler received two Mashies, Best Branded App and Best New Brand for their work with Citi Bike, New York City’s bike share program.

Todd Wasserman, Mashable’s business editor noted in a recent post, “The rising prominence of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and others has led to a more complex array of media choices, but has also rebooted our traditional view of marketing. This is no longer a one-way conversation with consumers. It is a real-time dialogue in which brands can be upended by an ill-conceived tweet or a rogue YouTube posting. In such an environment, we think marketers deserve kudos for making the right calls and applying creative solutions. That’s why we’ve created The Mashies, which are designed to recognize the very best marketing in social media. The Mashies will highlight thought leadership in such categories as Best Real-Time Marketing, Best Use of Twitter, Best Branded Vine and Best Use of Facebook, among others.”

Guest judges combed through hundreds of submissions to select the best. Winners were selected by Mashable’s editorial team and an outside panel of industry leaders.

“The fact that Publicis Kaplan Thaler won in the best branded app category against some of the best digital agencies in the country says everything about how far this agency has come and our emerging digital expertise,” said Rob Feakins, Publicis Kaplan Thaler’s Chief Creative Officer and President.

New York City fundamentally changed when over 300 stations and 5,000 bikes were introduced. Since New Yorkers don’t always react well to change, the entire program had to be easy to use, or Citi Bike would never truly be embraced. Publicis Kaplan Thaler created a simple way for riders to locate available bikes wherever they were in the city — The Citi Bike mobile app. At a glance, riders are able to locate nearby stations and the ratio of bikes to empty docks. The app also offers full station details, riding tips, turn-by-turn directions to anywhere in the city and a timer to help riders avoid late fees. The app also utilized a partnership with The New York Times to help riders unlock the city and discover parts of the city they’ve never seen before. Riders can also notify friends where they are headed on Citi Bike.

The highly successful app has reached over 130,000 downloads, garnered positive attention from media outlets like The Huffington Post, The New York Times and Daily News and has allowed riders to travel over 5 million miles.

About Publicis Kaplan ThalerPublicis Kaplan Thaler is a fully integrated advertising agency with digital, social and technology at its core. With over 650 employees, it is the flagship of Publicis Worldwide in the USA, the North American operating unit of Publicis Worldwide, the largest global agency network within Publicis Groupe. The Agency’s blue-chip client roster includes: Procter & Gamble, CITI, Nestlé, Merck, Pfizer, TriHonda, Wendy’s, L’Oréal, AFLAC, and NAPA Auto Parts, among others. To learn more about Publicis Kaplan Thaler, follow @PKTtweets, like on Facebook or visit pkt.com.

About MashableMashable is a leading source for news, information & resources for the Connected Generation. Mashable reports on the importance of digital innovation and how it empowers and inspires people around the world. Mashable’s 20 million monthly unique visitors and 6 million social media followers have become one of the most engaged online news communities. Founded in 2005, Mashable is headquartered in New York City with an office in San Francisco.

About Citi BikeCiti Bike is New York City’s bike sharing system. Intended to provide New Yorkers and visitors with an additional transportation option for getting around the city, bike sharing is fun, efficient and convenient. A bike sharing system consists of a fleet of specially designed, sturdy, very durable bikes that are locked into a network of docking stations sited at regular intervals around a city. The bikes can be rented from and then returned to any station in the system, creating an efficient network with many possible points and combinations of departure and arrival. With thousands of bikes at hundreds of stations, Citi Bike will be available for use 24 hours a day, all year ’round. The station network will provide twice as many docking points as bicycles, assuring that an available dock to return your bike is always nearby. Citi Bike will be operated by NYC Bike Share LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alta Bicycle Share. Alta is a unique company focused solely on operating large-scale bike share systems. System equipment is provided by Public Bike System Company (PBSC), which created the first solar-powered bike share system in the world, and has close to 20,000 bikes on the street globally. Bike systems in the Alta/PBSC family include London, Washington, D.C./Arlington, VA; Boston, MA; Minneapolis, MN; Melbourne, Australia; Chattanooga, Tennessee, Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal, Canada with Chicago and San Francisco geared to launch.

NEW YORK CITY, NY (September 9, 2013) – Publicis Kaplan Thaler received three Communications Arts’ Advertising Annual Awards. The Communication Arts Awards honor the best in visual communications from around the world and recognize the finest talent in the industry.

The Communication Arts Advertising Competition is the most prestigious competition for creativity in advertising. Any advertising project printed, published or aired for the first time from May 2013 through May 2014 is eligible. Selected by leading creative directors, art directors and writers, the winning entries will be distributed worldwide in the Communication Arts Advertising Annual, in print and on the iPad, and on commarts.com, assuring important exposure to the creators of this outstanding work. CA’s Award of Excellence is one of the most-coveted awards in the industry. If chosen, winning places recipients in the highest ranks of your profession.

Each winning entrant will receive a personalized Award of Excellence, milled from solid aluminum and award certificates issued for firms, individuals and clients.

The CA jurors work in multiple screening teams. Each category is divided between the screening teams so each group screens a portion of the entries. Each juror views the entries independently. Any juror can put an entry into the final voting by selecting it.

For finals, all jurors work as a single team. After the judges make their selections, their votes are tallied. A simple majority is usually required for a finalist to be selected a winner.

The work listed above will be featured in the November/December 2013 issue of Communication Arts. A list of all Communication Arts’ Annual Advertising Award winners can be found here.

About Publicis Kaplan ThalerPublicis Kaplan Thaler is a fully integrated advertising agency with digital, social and technology at its core. With over 650 employees, it is the flagship of Publicis Worldwide in the USA, the North American operating unit of Publicis Worldwide, the largest global agency network within Publicis Groupe. The Agency’s blue-chip client roster includes: Procter & Gamble, CITI, Nestlé, Merck, Pfizer, TriHonda, Wendy’s, L’Oréal, AFLAC, and NAPA Auto Parts, among others. To learn more about Publicis Kaplan Thaler, follow @PKTtweets, like on Facebook or visit pkt.com.

About Communication ArtsFounded in 1959, Communication Arts is the premier source of inspiration for graphic designers, art directors, design firms, corporate design departments, advertising agencies, interactive designers, illustrators and photographers—everyone involved in visual communication. Whether in print or online, CA’s editorials, feature articles and the annual competitions it sponsors provide new ideas and information, while promoting the highest professional standards for the field. Now in its 53rd year, CA continues to showcase the current best—from industry veterans to tomorrow’s innovators—in design, advertising, illustration, photography, interactive media and typography. Communication Arts and http://www.commarts.com are owned and operated by Coyne & Blanchard, Inc.

Agency Strengthens Fully Integrated Model, Client Offering

NEW YORK CITY, NY (August 16, 2013) – Publicis Kaplan Thaler announced today it has hired Joshua Hirsch as EVP, Chief Technology Officer to expand its deep bench strength and best-in-class offering. In this role, Hirsch will lead the New York-based shop’s technology and innovation practice, ensuring clients benefit from the most advanced programs, products and emerging technologies. He will report to Robin Koval, CEO of Publicis Kaplan Thaler.

Previously, Hirsch served as Partner & Minister of Technology at Big Spaceship, where he led the shop’s research and development team, building numerous award-winning digital projects. He has also held senior designer/development posts at Asymptote and Guggenheim.com.

“Today, technology informs the creative process as never before, and Joshua will help provide our clients with an unprecedented level of innovation,” said Robin Koval. “Joshua is a proven leader with a significant track record of developing impressive front-edge solutions, and we couldn’t be more pleased to have him join us. We expect to do truly innovative and industry-leading work together – work that continues to lead the change for our clients.”

Susan Gianinno, Chairman & CEO, Publicis Worldwide in the USA, stated, “Digital continues to be at the center of everything we do for our clients across Publicis Worldwide in the USA. My goal is for each office in the USA network to continue to both cultivate, and accelerate, digital innovation under the guidance of superior digital talent and leadership. The teaming of Joshua, with the leaders we have in place in our largest Publicis office in the USA, will ensure that digital-thinking adds significant value to all the clients across this flagship operation.”

Named one of the ad industry’s top 10 technologists of 2011, Hirsch is a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences and a long-standing adviser on Adobe Software launches. He often shares his expertise at industry conferences, instructional workshops and awards panels throughout the world, including the One Show and Art Directors Club.

Hirsch is a graduate of Northwestern University.

About Publicis Kaplan ThalerPublicis Kaplan Thaler is a fully integrated advertising agency with digital, social and technology at its core. With over 650 employees, it is the flagship of Publicis Worldwide in the USA, the North American operating unit of Publicis Worldwide, the largest global agency network within Publicis Groupe. The Agency’s blue-chip client roster includes: Procter & Gamble, CITI, Nestlé, Merck, Pfizer, TriHonda, Wendy’s, L’Oréal, AFLAC, and NAPA Auto Parts, among others. To learn more about Publicis Kaplan Thaler, follow @PKTtweets, like on Facebook or visit pkt.com.

NEW YORK CITY, NY & PARIS, FRANCE (July 28, 2013) – Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) and Publicis Groupe SA (Euronext Paris: FR0000130577) today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement for a merger of equals, creating the world’s leading company in communications, advertising, marketing and digital services, with combined 2012 revenue of $22.7 billion / €17.7 billion. Based on closing prices on July 26, 2013, Publicis Omnicom Group will have a combined equity market capitalization of approximately $35.1 billion / €26.5 billion. The merged group of more than 130,000 employees will be exceptionally well positioned to serve clients’ evolving needs, helping them to build their brands and grow their businesses in the rapidly changing communications landscape.

The combination, which has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies, brings together the most extensive portfolio of best-in-class agencies offering clients the industry’s leading talent across disciplines and geographies. Publicis Omnicom Group will include such iconic agency brands as BBDO, Saatchi & Saatchi, DDB, Leo Burnett, TBWA, Razorfish, Publicis Worldwide, Fleishman-Hillard, DigitasLBi, Ketchum, StarcomMediaVest, OMD, BBH, Interbrand, MSLGROUP, RAPP, Publicis Healthcare Communications Group (PHCG), Proximity, Rosetta, CDM, ZenithOptimedia and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, to name just a few.

Maurice Lévy, Chairman and CEO of Publicis Groupe, said: “The communication and marketing landscape has undergone dramatic changes in recent years including the exponential development of new media giants, the explosion of Big Data, blurring of the roles of all players and profound changes in consumer behavior. This evolution has created both great challenges and tremendous opportunities for clients. John and I have conceived this merger to benefit our clients by bringing together the most comprehensive offering of analog and digital services. Equally important, it will offer our talented people new avenues for growth and success at the crossroads of strategic intelligence, creativity, science and technology.”

John Wren, CEO of Omnicom, said: “Both Maurice and I believe this new company reflects our vision of retaining the best talent, attracting an incredible roster of clients and leading innovation. Omnicom and Publicis Groupe are reshaping the industry by setting a new standard for supporting clients with integrated messaging across marketing disciplines and geographies. This combination will enable us to leverage the skills of our exceptionally talented people, our broad product offering, enhanced global footprint, and tremendous roster of global and local clients. In short, we believe this is a merger that will set our new company on a path to accelerated growth, with long-term benefits for clients, employees and shareholders.”

Mr. Wren & Mr. Lévy said jointly: “For many years, we have had great respect for one another as well as for the companies we each lead. This respect has grown in the past few months as we have worked to make this combination a reality. We look forward to co-leading the combined company and are excited about what our people can achieve together for our clients and our shareholders.”

Publicis Omnicom Group has been structured with balanced corporate governance consistent with the spirit of a merger of equals. Publicis Groupe and Omnicom’s CEOs will lead the company as co-CEOs through an initial integration and development period of 30 months, following which Mr. Lévy will become non-executive Chairman and Mr. Wren will continue as CEO. The company will have a single-tier board with 16 members, consisting of the two co-CEOs and seven non-executive directors from each company.

For the first year following the closing of the transaction, Bruce Crawford, currently Omnicom Chairman, will be the non-executive Chairman of Publicis Omnicom Group. He will be succeeded by the current Publicis Groupe Chairperson, Elisabeth Badinter, as non-executive Chairperson for the second year following the closing of the transaction.

The transaction is expected to create significant value for shareholders. The new company’s broader portfolio of agencies and services and deeper geographic footprint will allow the combined company to accelerate revenue growth and create operating synergies. The future scalability and internal synergies of the combined company are expected to generate efficiencies of $500 million / €377 million.

The transaction is a cross-border merger of equals under a holding company, Publicis Omnicom Group, in The Netherlands. The Group’s operational head offices will continue to be based in Paris and New York. The merger is expected to be tax-free to the shareholders of both companies. The transaction has been structured so that the shareholders of Publicis Groupe and Omnicom, after special dividends, will each hold approximately 50% of the equity of Publicis Omnicom Group. Publicis Groupe shareholders will receive one newly issued ordinary share of Publicis Omnicom Group for each Publicis Groupe share they own, together with a special dividend of €1.00 per share. Omnicom shareholders will receive 0.813 newly issued ordinary shares of Publicis Omnicom Group for each Omnicom share they own, together with a special dividend of $2.00 per share. In addition, Omnicom shareholders will receive up to two regular quarterly dividends of $0.40 per share if declared and the record date occurs prior to closing.

Ms. Badinter and family members as well as Mr. Lévy have entered into agreements in support of the merger, as have Mr. Wren, Mr. Crawford, and Mr. Randall Weisenburger, Omnicom’s CFO.

Publicis Omnicom Group is expected to be listed on the NYSE and Euronext Paris, traded under the symbol OMC, and to be included in the S&P 500 and CAC 40.

The transaction is subject to approval by the shareholders of both companies as well as numerous regulatory approvals. It is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2013 or the first quarter of 2014.

Publicis Groupe and Omnicom have expressed the desire to have their shares start trading simultaneously on the day of announcement. As a consequence and because of the time difference, Publicis Groupe has asked Euronext Paris to postpone the trading of its shares to 9.30am New York time / 3.30pm Paris time.

About OmnicomOmnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) is a leading global marketing and corporate communications company. Omnicom’s branded networks and numerous specialty firms provide advertising, strategic media planning and buying, digital and interactive marketing, direct and promotional marketing, public relations and other specialty communications services to over 5,000 clients in more than 100 countries.